Legacy
What I've learned about
leading people.
Legacy is the people you helped grow. It starts long before you retire or sell.
Which stage are you in?
- 01
Building
- Where you are
- Everything goes into the company. It's the right season for it, and it's also the season that quietly costs the most.
- Common mistake
- Telling yourself the people in your life will understand later. Some will. The relationship still records the years.
- What to do next
- Pick one thing that doesn't move for anything — a night, a game, a standing call — and never move it.
- 02
Noticing
- Where you are
- Something makes you look up: a health scare, a kid getting older, a friend's exit that didn't fix anything.
- Common mistake
- Treating the moment as a mood, waiting for it to pass, and getting back to work.
- What to do next
- Shift the frame past your own lifetime and answer one question in writing: what do I want still running in people when I'm not here? Say it out loud to someone who isn't on the cap table.
- 03
Repairing
- Where you are
- You start rebuilding what the building cost — at home, in friendships, in your body.
- Common mistake
- Trying to repair with a big gesture instead of showing up boringly for a long time. Trust rebuilds on the small stuff.
- What to do next
- Ask the person directly what they'd want more of, then do exactly that for six months.
- 04
Passing on
- Where you are
- You start handing things down on purpose: what you know, who you know, and what you have.
- Common mistake
- Waiting until you've figured it all out. The people who need it need it now, unfinished.
- What to do next
- Name three people to invest in this year and tell them. Unspoken mentorship isn't mentorship.
- 05
Outlasting
- Where you are
- What you built keeps working without your name on it, and the people you shaped are shaping others.
- Common mistake
- Needing the credit. The moment you need it attributed, it stops compounding.
- What to do next
- Help one more person find theirs. That's the whole stage, and it's the only part that outlives you.
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